Le Subjonctif Trivia Quiz

Answer: I insist that you be ready at eight.

'I wish I were...' is also a commonly-used expression using the English subjunctive. In general, though, the English subjunctive is practically extinct.

Answer: Je souhaite que ...

'Je souhaite que' means 'I wish that', and 'parce que' means 'because.' 'Je dois' means 'I must' and 'j'ai moins que' is 'I have less than' and is the beginning of a comparison.

Answer: third-person plural

Thus, the verb 'choisir' - whose third-person plural conjugation is 'ils choisissent' - has the subjunctive stem 'choisiss-': que je choisisse, que tu choisisses, qu'il choisisse, que nous choisissions, que vous choisissiez, qu'ils choisissent.

For some irregular verbs, both the third-person and first-person plural conjugations provide a subjunctive stem. Take the verb 'boire.' Its conjugation in the subjunctive mood is: que je boive, que tu boives, qu'il boive, que nous buvions, que vous buviez, qu'ils boivent. Notice that the 'que nous' and 'que vous' entries take the first-person plural stem, whereas the rest of the conjugation takes the third-person plural stem!

Answer: sach-

Que je sache, que tu saches, qu'il sache, que nous sachions, que vous sachiez, qu'ils sachent. Saur- is the future stem of savoir, which means 'to know.'

Answer: soi- or soy-

Que je sois, que tu sois, qu'il soit, que nous soyons, que vous soyez, qu'ils soient. Ser- is the future stem of etre, which means 'to be.'

Answer: subjunctive

J'exige que vous soyez ponctuel: I urge you to be on time. Commands take the subjunctive. The indicative mood is the everyday one: Je serai heureuse. Je joue au Frisbee. And so on. There are many tenses -- present, future, past, past imperfect, and so on -- within each mood.

Answer: subjunctive

Je n'espère pas que vous ayez des problèmes: I do not hope that you have problems. Espérer (to hope) usually takes the subjunctive when used negatively or in a question; when used positively and without doubt, it typically takes the indicative. Interestingly, souhaiter (to wish) always takes the subjunctive.

Answer: subjunctive

Il est triste que sa tante soit morte: It's sad that his aunt died. When you say that it's (any adjective) that (anything), then (anything) is always in the subjunctive. Je suis fachee que l'egalite ne soit pas un fait. C'est ironique que le gendarme ait pris votre livre, 'The Day They Came to Arrest the Book.'

Answer: subjunctive mood, present tense

There is no future tense in the subjunctive mood. The same is true in English: it's 'I insist that you be at the movies at eight,' not 'I insist that you will be at the movies at eight.' The transitional mood doesn't exist either.

Answer: false

Verbs following 'il faut que' are always in the subjunctive mood. But general instructions, with no specific subject, often leave out the 'que' and put the verb in the infinitive. 'Il faut cacher l'argent' is 'It is necessary to hide the money,' but 'Il faut que vous cachiez l'argent' (note the subjunctive) is 'It is necessary that YOU hide the money.' I hope this makes the subjunctive clearer!